It’s an annual rite of spring: volunteers, Basin Recreation employees and furry friends got out to Run-a-Muk Dog Park Thursday for some spring cleaning.
The park is closed for April for maintenance, restoration work and vegetation regrowth. After a winter of dogs relieving themselves in snow, which can make it hard to clean up after them, Thursday’s volunteer clean-up was the first step toward getting the park ready for warm weather.
“We’ve seen a lot of poop come back,” said Maddie Nelson, trails and open space stewardship lead for Basin Recreation.
Near the end of the four-hour clean-up session, volunteers had filled several large trash bags.
Dawn Levingston, a part-time teacher at Alpine Elementary School, was having trouble finding poop to scoop. She credited the volunteers who cleared trails earlier in the day for doing a thorough job.
She said she came out to the clean-up to let her dogs Rooster and Autumn run around and because she uses the park year-round.
“It’s beautiful, it’s a nice open space to let the dogs play and explore,” Levingston said. “I come out every other week, through winter as well, and when my son does mountain biking and he’s in the neighborhood.”
About 15 volunteers showed up, as well as Basin Rec employees.
“Most of the volunteers are locals - people who use the park everyday or, you know, once a week,” Nelson said. “I’d say probably 75% of the people are repeat volunteers.”
Other clean-up days at Run-a-Muk will be each Thursday for the rest of April from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Supplies for picking up poop and trash are provided on-site.
